Self-Awareness
Self-awareness is one of the five overarching categories taught by BSD7's Social Emotional Learning curriculum. The other categories are self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness.
What is Self-Awareness?
Self-awareness: The abilities to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. This includes capacities to recognize one’s strengths and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and purpose.
What Skills are Associated with Self-Awareness?
In order to be self-aware, one must be able to do the following:
Identify emotions – It is important that students be able to recognize and identify emotions. In order to be aware of their own emotions and participate in activities that address those emotions, they must first be able to label them.
Have an accurate self-perception – Because self-awareness is based on an awareness of the “self,” it is necessary for one’s perception of self to match reality. In order to have accurate self-awareness, it is important for students to be reflective and open to feedback in order to develop a true sense of self. A realistic understanding of themselves will allow students to better manage their behavior.
Recognize strengths – We each have unique strengths, and it is vital that we each recognize and build on them. An important piece of social emotional health is a focus on positive attributes.
Possess self-confidence – When students are able to recognize their strengths, their self-confidence grows. Again, self-confidence is an integral piece of a healthy social emotional state.
Demonstrate self-efficacy – Self-efficacy is an individual’s belief in their ability to achieve a goal. Recent research suggests that by believing you are capable of something, you help yourself on the path to achieving it.
An Example of an SEL Lesson about Self-Awareness:
Students draw a picture of themselves doing an activity that they love to do. Then they identify one or two things that help them do well at the activity they enjoy and write those things down on their picture.
In this example, a student shows that they like to swim and that they are good at swimming because of their skill, focus, concentration, and exercise.
What is the goal of this lesson?
Students will learn how to...
Recognize personal strengths and positive attributes.
("I can describe my feelings and personal strengths.")
Share examples of their personal strengths and positive attributes.
("I can describe my feelings and my personal strengths.")
Connect these strengths to successes in school and life.
("I can tell others about events in my life that I like to do and am good at.")
One strategy you can try at home: The Feelings Wheel (see the image to the right) helps students acknowledge their emotions and feelings so that they can move into action and respond constructively to those feelings.
How it works: Let's say you are feeling "fearful." Locate that feeling on the wheel, then move one ring out and identify another emotion. Keep moving to the last ring on the wheel. By accurately identifying your emotions, you can do something about it and handle these emotions in a productive way.
A strategy that can be used with teens/adolescents: The Positive Pivot Scale
How it works: Consider a challenge you are facing today. Identify where you are currently responding on the Positive Pivot Scale. Then, ask yourself: What would I need to do to move to a higher number on the Positive Pivot Scale?